[lashbear]

We touched down on that foreign shore at 10:30am...the same day as we had left Sydney. It was strange arriving 1 hour and fifteen minutes before we left! The minute we cleared customs we went to look for the shuttle that was to take us to the hotel. Once we found it, we gave our voucher to the driver and got in. The driver sounded uncannily like Mag, but we were soon to discover that most Californians sounded like him.
The hotel was a very nice looking one, close to the heart of the city. Once we had checked in, the porter brought our luggage up to the room. He showed us where everything was, ie. the TV etc. and left with a tip (I remembered this time.) On using the bathroom, I discovered the lights didn't work, so we called down to the desk and they sent the porter up to move us from our 6th floor room to one on the 4th floor. (he got no tip this time...on purpose) Having satisfied ourselves that all the amenities worked in this room, we had a shower to rid ourselves of the grotty, yucky feeling that a long plane trip leaves you with. We then set off on our first day's explorations.

Fisherman's Wharf was the first "Port" of call. We got there on a cable car. This had to be the most fun form of transport that I had ever been on. On our way up, down and around the many hills of the city I hung on for grim death to the outside of the little trolley. We recognised many sights seen in various TV shows and movies, and at last we arrived in the wharf area.

Once there, we walked along the main road that runs along the many piers. We decided to have a look at the MovielandWaxMuseum. It was very good, but Maree was not impressed by the chamber of horrors. I tiptoed through it cautiously, and wasn't too scared. Once outside, however, we decided against going in the "Haunted Gold Mine." We decided to have lunch instead.

The most logical thing to eat,of course, was seafood. We each got a serving of Fisherman's Wharf 's famous clam chowder, served in a bowl made of one of SanFrancisco's most famous foods...Sourdough Bread. The chowder was delicious, and instead of throwing the bowl away we ate it!. Once that was done, we got on a cable car to go to Maceys in order to do some "Californian Window Shopping".

Maceys seemed expensive at first glance, but this was owing to our having arrived through the "Designer Label" section of the clothing department. We soon discovered that the rest of the store was reasonably priced. Maree bought a hair-drier and I bought some munchies and schnapps. Alcohol and food prices were very cheap.
We caught the cable car again, and I hung off the side risking both life and bum as the traffic tended to park out from the curb a bit!

We went back to the hotel again, but on the way I tried to phone home....no-one there. The phone system is so different to what I am used to, that I couldn't tell if there was nobody there, or if I mucked up the call myself.

Once back at the hotel, I had a few drinks at the hotel's bar, then we went out for dinner. We ate at a restaurant called "Momma's". I had a beef & vegetable dish, while Maree had Veal Marsala. The water arrived with the meal just like we heard, and so that wasn't a disappointment.
We left the restaurant, then we went back to the hotel, where Maree went to bed, and I stayed up for a few drinks with a lovely dutch couple. I got in LATE and maree wrote the day's diary with me dictating, as I was too drunk to write.